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About Me

I am a farmer's wife,runner and a mother of two boys. I help my husband with our farming business. I did my first marathon in October 2010 and loved every minute of it. I'm now looking to do my 4th marathon in Little Rock, AR

Saturday, October 22, 2011

Got up at 2.30 to go to the bathroom than laid back down, but wasn't able to go back to sleep. I was planning to get up around 5.00, but ended up getting up at 4.30 I just couldn't go back to sleep. We all wanted to get there early so we didn't get to stressed out about getting where we needed to be and getting our potty stops in before race.

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Me getting ready to leave home

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My signature pose

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Earlier in the week I mentioned to Dan that I was hoping to start with him, because our pace was about the same. Of course being a man he was not going to get there as early as us girls. I kept looking for him, but I wasn't having any luck seeing him. My blood pressure was starting to rising. I kept thinking I cant believe I'm going to have to run this marathon by myself. SHIT. I better start getting ready mentally. We all headed on out to the starting line. Most of us had planned on starting at the 10.30 pace. Blood Pressure is way out of whack by now. It was about 10 minutes before the start and I hear someone yelling at us girls. Bless his heart it's Dan and his college friend who is running the marathon too. Thank you God. At that moment I could feel my blood pressure starting to go back down.

Mile 1-3 The gun went off and we all started running or you could say walked to the start line. The first 3 miles were pretty flat. We all were just talking away and I didn't really realize that we had gone 3 miles already.

Mile 4-8 OK, This is where the hills come in to play on this marathon. It's pretty much up and down from 4 to 8 miles. I got through them, but it was really taking a toil on my hammies and my right buttocks right in the center of my butt checks. I was so happy to get those 4 miles done. So was my Buttocks and Hammies.

Mile 9-15 This is Polk Blvd and their is always alot of people on this street cheering you on. I love these 6 miles of the marathon. At mile 10, I hear some girls behind me say to this guy, " Are you that guy". He said "Yes I'm that guy. I thought for a second could that be Jim from over @ 50 after 40 running behind me. It was just a thought, because Jim wouldn't be behind me he would be almost done with the marathon by now. This guy's name was Dirk and he to had just ran the Kansas City Marathon on Saturday and was doing the IMT Des Moines Marathon on Sunday. This was his 10th Marathon this year and he still had one more to do. It was so nice to visit with him. I love meeting new people when I run a race. At around mile 12 we got to run around the Drake Stadium, which we call the Blue Mile. It is so cool running around that track. I felt like a Track Star.

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I'm a Track Star

﻿ Mile 16-20 I was starting to feel tired and my butt and hammy were really tight. The guys stopped to go to t he bathroom and I stretched out my buttocks and hammies. Boy, that felt good. I took a Power bar gel at 18 miles. I started running again and all of a sudden I thought I was going to throw up. I stepped off to the side and bent over, thinking Holy Shit this isn't good. The lady that was behind me came over and offered me a Gu, I told her I think that's why I'm not feeling so great at the moment. So I decide no more gel for me. I tried to take Gatorade but that doesn't agree with me either. So , I mainly stuck with water. This is the part of the marathon I know it gets kind of lonely. Their is not a lot of spectators around Waterworks Park. Around mile 19 some guy who was running behind me said "You are doing good Penny, keep it up. Than a few minutes later, like an after thought he says "I'm not looking at your butt". I yelled back and said, " That why my name is on my butt honey, so you can call me by name. We got to to mile 20 and I told Dan and Jason to go ahead I needed to take a walk break.

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Dan, Jason and Me at Water Works Park

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Mile 21-26.2 From here on out I was doing a run/walk. I was feeling really tired, but I didn't dare take anything for fear I would up chuck. I just kept getting water at the water stops. My running partner from last year was suppose to meet me at mile 22 and run the rest of the way with me. She didn't show because her knees were killing her after she got done with the half. I had told her earlier in the week if her knees were hurting not to meet me. I could do those last miles by myself . I was kind of bummed when I hit 22, and no Tree. But I totally understood why she wasn't there. I could finish this marathon on my own. YAHOO. I just kept putting one foot in front of the other. At mile 25, I heard someone say 'You are almost done Penny" I turned around and it was Dirk, coming up behind me again. We talked alittle and than I needed another walk break. It's a weird feeling when you know God is looking out for you. That is just what I needed to get me to that DARN finish line. Mile 26, I see my running partner shaking some cowbells, she came out and gave me a hug and I started to shed a tear. I was just so DARN happy that I was almost to the finish line.

I DID IT. I finished my second Marathon. Not as good as last year, but I'll take it.

Finishing Time: 5:17

Rachele,Me, Dan,Vickie our cheerleader, Jason and Tree

After I got done with the marathon, I needed to make a couple of stops before I headed on home. I didn't know when I would make it back to Des Monies, being in the field and all. My son called and asked me to bring supper home. I stopped at McDonald's and got him and hubby something for supper. I get home and bring all my stuff into the house. I than hurried and changed my clothes so I could take the guys some food. I get to Parker and give him his supper early and than I head on over to hubby and give him his supper. I should of known that, that my work was not done for the day yet. Hubby says I need you to help with somethings, I said OK. We need to move the grain cart and a pickup. Got that done, so I left to go home and do chores before it got dark. I hate doing the chores in the dark. I was almost done doing chores and my phone rings, hubby says when you get done with chores we need to move more stuff, because they were almost done with that field. If you don't know how moving things work, it could take 15 minutes or it could take hours. SHIT I'M WEARING DOWN. I didn't get back home till 7 pm. My hubby could tell I was wearing down. He jokingly said "Now you need to check those late beans, which is 10 miles from where we live. It took me a few minutes to process what he was saying, I was so Darn tired. I said you are joking aren't you. He just smiles at me and tells me to go on home and get to bed. I told him I was so tired I might not even take a bath.

I finally got home and got my bath taken. I still need to get his lunch fixed for the next day, plus get my own lunch ready for Monday. I think I finally got to bed around 8.30. ﻿ I had a great time doing this marathon. I love just being around all of those runners.

Sorry, I took so long in get out this recap. We have literally been in the field day and night, since the weather here has been so nice.

Saturday, October 15, 2011

This is my outfit I'll be wearing for the IMT Des Moines Marathon on Sunday.

I love to let people on the street cheering for all the runners, know my name. I think this will do it. Don't you? No pink hat this time. Mentally, I have to go into this marathon with the mind set , that I'm going to have fun and enjoy every minute of it. Even when it gets tough. I'm not predicting a time for when I will finish. I feel that would take some of the enjoyment out of running this marathon. For me it's not about beating a time, it's about just enjoying the moment.

My Bib #

The weather for Sunday is calling for High 65 F, 20% chance of showers . It sounds like the showers will be north of us. YAHOO! It going to be a great day for a Marathon.